This invention relates to true fungi-controlling agents and to a process for preparing the same. More particularly, the invention pertains to true fungi-controlling agents obtained from plants containing berberine type alkaloids and to a process for obtaining the same.
The berberine type alkaloids referred to herein are berberine, coptisine, worenine, palmatine and others which are common in skeletal structure of the formula, ##STR1##
Even until recently, there have not yet been found any effective and accurate processes for the therapy of fungous diseases derived from pathogenic fungi such as Blastomyces, Candida, Cryptococcus, Coccidiodes, Epidermophyton, Histoplasma, Microsporum and Trichophyton. While polyene type antibiotics such as Amphotericin B, Trichomycin and Nystatin are administered at present for the therapy of said diseases, these antibiotics have such drawbacks as being toxic and uneven in antifungal activity, and cannot display effective and accurate therapeutic effects.
An object of the present invention is to provide true fungi-controlling substances which are high in antifungal activity.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a process for producing the said true fungi-controlling substances.